Christmas

Christmas Eve at Opa and Oma's house. Visit Opa's blog for a short video clip. We all had a great time and felt the spirit of the season.
Christmas morning breakfast. We always have English Christmas Crackers and wear the crowns inside them. We had a wonderful day together. The highlight, of course was being all together with Johnny home. Christmas morning before we opened gifts, I asked the children to think of what kinds of gifts Jesus would want from us. We are grateful for this time of year when we celebrate our Savior's birth and life.

Some of our homemade gifts to each other were as follows:

Caroline to Josh--cookie of the month club. She gave him a paper listing the different cookies she will bake him each month.

Josh to Natalie--He set her up on a double date. They went out last night and Johnny joined them for a triple date--his first date in 2 years. :)

Joe to Johnny--tied a fleece blanket for him

Jake to Joe--made a Lego kit. He created a model and then took pictures for Joseph to follow to reassemble it.

Natalie to Caroline--made some music mix CDs.

Johnny to Jake--gave him a little Greek hand toy and taught him tricks

Johnny's homecoming

Johnny came home from Greece last night. His flight was 4 hours late so many of the extended family members were unable to come. Opa and Oma stayed up late with us to welcome him home. Caroline took the video and Jake the pictures. Words can not express how wonderful it is to have him home.

Christmas Cake

**This is the cake Caroline decorated last year.
John's mom was English and often made the traditional English Christmas cake with marzipan frosting and all the dried fruits and currants in it. We were not big fans of this cake, but wanted to try and keep up the tradition. This wonderful apple cake looks similar to it with it's white cream cheese frosting. The warm butter sauce is so delicious served on it. We also put a silver dollar covered with tin foil between the layers and the lucky person who gets it in their piece receives a present(another English tradition). The other great thing about this cake is that you make the cake ahead of time and freeze. Here is the recipe Al:

Apple Cake:

2 eggs

2 C sugar

2 tsp Soda

1/2 salt

2 tsp. Cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 C oil

4 C apples (peeled and shredded)

2 C flour

1 C pecans or Walnuts chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour 2 9" round pans (floured and greased). Cream together eggs and sugar. Add vanilla and oil. In a Separate bowl combine soda, salt, cinnamon and flour. Mix into egg mixture. Add apples and nuts. Beat for 2 min. Bake 45 minutes. When done cool on counter. When cool, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze. Frost as desired while cakes are frozen.

Frosting:

1 80z cream cheese

3 T softened butter

1/2 tsp vanilla

dash of salt

1 1/2 C powdered sugar

Butter sauce:

1 C sugar

1/2 C butter

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 C cream

heat on low. Don't boil. Serve warm over individual slices of cake and with a dollop of whipped cream on top if desired.

Winter Recitals/Concerts

The past few weeks have been filled with concerts and recitals. Jake also played in a winter orchestra concert. He did a great job and I feel bad I forgot my camera and did not get a picture.

Caroline singing a solo in her Christmas choir concert. She did great!! She sang a Ghana song with just drums to accompany her.
Natalie and Caroline playing "Let it Snow" duet.
Caroline dancing for the nursing home.

Caroline's Cooking Blog

Caroline has started a cooking blog. This is where she trys and shares recipes. She has always loved to cook and lately I find her reading cookbooks when she goes to bed. She only has 2 posts on it now, but wants to put a new recipe each week. The above picture is of her helping to cook when just a toddler---she always was on the counter as I cooked. Here is the link to her blog.

Winter Dance

Josh and Natalie both went to the high school winter dance last weekend. They went in different groups. Josh's had a group of 28 kids. One very energetic mother made a sit down turkey dinner for them all. All the other mothers brought side dishes to share. Natalie's group went to Olive Garden, which Natalie reported she out ate her date. :) Natalie had a nice time, but admits that there were some really awkward moments and would rather go on a more casual date.

SURPRISE!!!

On Friday I had a surprise party for Natalie. It was really hard to keep it a secret, especially on her real birthday when I had not planned too much to celebrate. In the future I will always do surprise parties before the real birthday. Her girl friends came over first and surprised her and we had dinner and games. Later a bunch of her guy friends showed up. I think at one point we had at least 50 kids here. Everyone seemed to have a fun time. Joseph said the next day, "Our house was a rock-in everywhere."

Happy SWEET sixteen Natalie!!!

Natalie has been counting down the days till she turned 16--the time she could both drive and date. She got her drivers license yesterday and her friends surprised her by decorating her room. As you see in the picture they put a life size "Jacob" from the Twilight movie in there too. Late last night when checking on something in her room, I about had a heart attack when I turned the lights on and there was this "man" standing there. I told her when she is not home he has to go in the closet.(--a little creepy) We love Natalie's zest for life and her passion for things she is involved in and her ideas. Most importantly we appreciate that she is kind and sensitive to those around her. WE LOVE YOU NAT!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

14 DAYS TILL JOHNNY COMES HOME!!!!

I can't believe it has been two years since Johnny left for his mission. Time has flown, except for the last few months as I anticipate all my children in my home again. We are all so excited and can't wait to see, hug, talk to, hang out with, play with, and be with him. I feel like I did when I was nesting for a new baby. I have been deep cleaning the house, making up menu plans and cooking. I guess thats what moms do when they are excited. I know he will be surprised to see how some of the kids have grown, especially Natalie, Jake and Caroline. Jake's goal was to be taller than Johnny when he came home. :) I will post a before picture and after picture once he is here. This is a little excerpt from his letter today. I guess he is starting to think of coming home too.

"This week while in church i realized that I don' t really know what I have been used to do in this country, but God knows. Only He knows how many people I have been used to influence. I hope that this last few weeks I can influence as many people as I can. I am grateful for the experiences that I have had here and for the people that I have got to know here. It has been an amazing two years, that won't compare with any to come, but hopefully not the best (in other words I hope it only gets better:) full of happy and difficult times. I love this country and the language, and the poeple who live here. I will miss them.

But I love you and I can't believe that I will see you soon. I am very very excited."

Dating, Dances, and DRAMA!

Natalie turns 16 next week. There is a Christmas Dance 2 days after her birthday and she has been really hoping to get asked to it. Well, tonight at 7:00 pm just as I was leaving for Jake's concert the doorbell rang and there was a Christmas tree sitting there. I hurried and put it in Natalie's room. Later, when Natalie came home there was wrapping paper all rolled up and a candy cane with Natalie name on it sitting at the front steps. Two boys asked her within 1 hour of each other!!!!! Then the drama began..... Natalie was so excited to be asked but very traumatized at the same time to turn one of the boys down. They are both nice boys and she is friends with both. She could not focus or function for about 2 hours because she was so indecisive as what to do. She finally decided the best thing to do was accept the invitation of the first. She still really wants to go out with the other boy too and she hopes he will ask her out again. John and I told her if she doesn't date at all it would solve everything. She didn't like that answer. Above are pictures of how she was asked and how she responded.

Cranberry Salsa

I made this for an appetizer for Thanksgiving. It is very easy to make and unique. Everyone loved it and wanted me to blog it.

2-3 cups dried cranberries (I got craisens from Costco) chopped

1 bunch of cilantro (chopped)

1-2 jalapenos (seeded and chopped)--I used one

1 purple onion (chopped)--if large just use half

Cover with the following mixture:

1/4 C honey (mixes best if warm)

1/4 C orange juice

juice from 2 limes

The recipe will easily cover 2-3 8 oz. cream cheese. Serve with club crackers or tortilla chips. Tastes best if made the night before so that flavors can blend.

Thanksgiving

I made another video clip of the pictures we took over this Thanksgiving break to send to Johnny. It was a fun filled weekend full of complicated plans, events and traveling back and forth to cousin's houses.

Grandma also took all the girls to the nutcracker to watch 3 cousins preform. We feel so blessed and are truly grateful for our faith, health, food, friends and family. When looking at the "black" Friday deals in the newspaper, we quickly realized we didn't really need anything, that we already have everything we could want. :)

Modest is Hottest

• Natalie thought up the post title. Hmmmm :)
• Caroline and Natalie are modeling the dresses I bought for 7 dollars on clearance at American Eagle. The only problem was that they were too short. Here is how I refashioned them. On Caroline's dress, I let out the hem and added some eyelet. For Natalie's, I added a 2 1/2 inch trim to the bottom. They both were happy with the results.
• Funny story about Natalie's dress. Natalie wore this to school the other day. While practicing in social dance she notice her partner had a funny look on his face. She followed where his eyes were staring and realized her dress had slipped down past her chest!! (good thing she had a shade t-shirt on). For the test, he told her he would hold it up. hahahaha---I guess I need add some ribbon or straps.

Made with Love--gift exchange

We used to take all the children to the dollar store in December and let them pick out a gifts for each other. They loved it, but I hated the 36 items of junk that came into the house each year. These things always ended up in the garbage within a week.

3 years ago we started a new tradition and the kids picked names for a their gift exchange. The only catch was it had to be made by the giver. This takes a lot more thought and effort. In the above picture, Joseph had been working for 2 hours on Johnny's present, when I said to him,"why don't you to take a break?" He replied, "Mom, a boy does not give up on his brother!" Haha He has been really excited as he works on his gift. Caroline has a great idea for Josh and I wish she picked me. Here are some of the past gifts.

• Johnny---Natalie---made her a special music mix cds
• Natalie---Caroline----typed her up a cookbook of favorite family recipes
• Jake------Joseph------decoupaged a wooden treasure chest with super hero stickers
• Joseph---Josh------painted wood letters of Josh's name for his room
• Josh-----Joseph-----took photos of Joseph's favorite toys, books, and him playing and combined with some random pictures of him and made a little video of him with the background music "you've got a friend in me"--so cute one of my favorites!!!
• Caroline-----Jake----freezer stencil Chinese characters saying "big brother" on a T-shirt
• Caroline----Johnny---took all his comics strips he had collected for 5 years and compiled them into a scrapbook and sheet protectors
• Josh------Jake----homemade bookmark and a book of his own that he knew Jake would love.

I love this new system, because the children actually feel the joy and excitement that accompanies giving instead of receiving.

Christmas Binder

This year I am following the advice/idea of my friend, Chris and created a Christmas Binder. I don't know why I have not done or thought of this earlier. It has taken a lot of the stress out of the Holiday planning and preparing. In my binder I have included gift lists, things to buy, Christmas card lists and addresses, menu plans and recipes for the holidays, traditions, activities to do as a family, and a master to do list. Having it all in one place and written down makes it seem manageable. This is the first year I am done shopping before Thanksgiving. Yeah!!! I also have a zipper pouch where I have put all the gift receipts. I still have plenty to do, but it doesn't seem as overwhelming. Now I just need to find a good place to hide it from my children's curious eyes. :)

Josh joins the FFA

Josh joined the FFA(future farmers of America) at his school. It is a great program. He has had a fun time being involved in this school club. He helped judge cows with his group and he is going to a leadership conference in December. Josh and 6 other students are raising a pig that they will sell in the spring. They are each in charge of one day. He has learn new skills and made some new friends. I am always proud of my kids when they try new things. Good job Josh!!!

Halloween Party

Cathy had an early Halloween party. She went all out with cotton candy, donuts on a string, bobbing for apples, cookie decorating, and the famous light show. We all had a great time. It was fun to dress up early. Josh was spider-man, Joe was a pirate skeleton, and John a Hawaiian tourist.

Caroline as a Fairy Princess

Me as Princess Leah-haha--Natalie as a Bratz Doll. Her boots make her 6 ft tall. She decided she will dress up as something different for their school masquerade dance--she doesn't want to tower over everyone,

Jake as pointless. :)

Oma and Opa Wirthlin--deck out in Austrian wear.

Pumpkin Patch

In search of the perfect pumpkin..........

A "cursed" Dinner

For Dinner I put a "curse" under each person's plate. Each person had to follow the directions of the curse throughout the meal. Everyone also had to try to figure out what curse each person had. The curses under our plates were:

John: spank anyone being mean

Me: flick water from your glass when someone says someone's name

Josh: answer the telephone whenever Joseph uses his hands to eat.

Natalie: Snort like a pig when anyone takes seconds

Jacob: Say "Oh My" anytime someone puts their elbows on the table

Caroline: Do a curtsey when Dad eats a shrimp.

Joseph: run around the table like a gorilla when Mom takes a drink.

This produced a lot of laughs. I realized I need to go over manners, because Jake never ceased to say "Oh My" and Josh got tired of answering the phone. John kept spanking me because I was flicking water at people. ha-ha I will have to change the curses next time. Also, it almost ended in a water fight because at the end I flick a little too much water at John who then dump the entire glass on me--Luckily most the water was gone from the table. The kids want me to surprise them with this one again.

John's new obsession

Caroline brought home a gourmet caramel apple from achievement day and started John on his new obsession. After purchasing all the necessary supplies and apples (green apples a must) we all made our own custom apple. I think John put so much on his that it wouldn't stick.

Homemade masquerade halloween masks

This fall break a few were house bound--Natalie was recovering from pneumonia and Josh did not want to go in public with his "baby". Caroline and I went to the craft store in search of something fun to make. We came home with plaster gauze used to make masks. The gauze(looks like an ace bandage) was very easy to use--just cut and dip in warm water and lay on the face. (make sure you cover the area of face with Vaseline or you will may have an unwanted eyebrow wax.)

Jake trying to avoid me taking his picture and playing cards to pass the 15 min drying time.
Natalie wanted hers a little smaller so we drew with eyeliner on her face as a guide as we laid down the strips.

Caroline hot gluing embellishments on her mask.
Joseph painting his mask. He painted one side with glow in the dark paint and the other with black and sparkles. Jake decided to do a similar mask, but on opposite sides Joseph. They have fun going in the dark bathroom and watching half of their "face" float around. Josh wanted to make a golden eagle (their school's mascot) but I did not feel like going to the craft store again to buy brown feathers, so he ended up using feathers from the bag of feathers I already had. He formed a beak with the plaster gauze strips and then added it to his mask. This was a fun and creative project. It may bother young children because as it dries on the faces it kind of itches.

Josh's "baby"

Josh drop one of his classes on the last day and the only class left that fit in his schedule was child development. Josh was not too excited about this, but happy when he saw all the girls in it. One of the requirements of the class is to care for a "baby" for two days. Josh brought this robot baby home yesterday. The teacher put on a mechanical ID bracelet on Josh (which he can not take off) that goes with the baby. The baby cries, fusses, laughs and breathing noises. It keeps track and deducts points if it cries too long, dropped, left unattended, etc. Last night I think it woke up 3 times in the night. hahaha Josh is the only one that can meet the babies needs if crying and will cry if Josh (the one with the bracelet) is too far away for too long. I laughed when Josh took "care" of it this morning and then went back to bed immediately afterwards. When he complains about it, I say a real baby is a lot harder. Johnny had colic for 3 months!!! Natalie and the girls fight over the "baby" when it is laughing or just cooing. The minute it cries they hand it off to Josh. Hahaha--This has been so funny to watch and a great learning experience for Josh.

Happy Birthday Joseph!!!

Happy Birthday Joseph!! Joseph is definitely a ray of sunshine in our home. He usually is the first one up in the morning and greets me with a smile and "good morning". He is always happy and can put a positive spin on almost everything. He is very social and loves to play with cousins, friends, and new friends he makes where ever he goes. He keeps us laughing with all the funny things he says. He had a halloween birthday party with all his friends dressing up. We also celebrated on his birthday up at Oma and Opa's house with cousins.
Garage sale Presents:

Since Joseph is my last child, I have a really hard time buying new toys when I know I will get rid of them soon. Also, Joseph already has toys from his older brothers (legos, brio train, action figures, etc). For his presents this year I found all these great things at garage sales. I think the total I spent was 13.50. $5 for 28 chevron car collection. $7 dollars for a playmobile pirate treasure set and viking ship and 50 cents for 2 robots and 50 cents for a beanie baby. Joseph was thrilled will all his gifts and I don't get mad when he loses all the teeny tiny playmobile pieces.:)

Josh joins the Eagle's Nest

Josh received his eagle scout award on Sunday. We are proud of his diligence and work it took for him to accomplish this. During the ceremony they ask any eagle scouts to come forward and sit in the front in the "eagle's nest". Josh enjoyed watching the live eagle show from the "eagle's nest" with the many other eagle scouts that were present. Way to go Josh!!!!

"Old fashion" Photos

We went up to Grandpa's Bear Lake Farm House for Labor Day weekend. On Sunday we had some time to spare before church and I convinced a few of the children to come outside to take pictures around the property. I put the pictures in Sepia, because the kids had on really random colors. When Joseph saw them in Sepia format, he said, "wait I don't remember being old." I told him, no I made it look that way and he said, "a yeah old fashion like you." ha ha :) I think next time we are up there I will try to do a "real" photo shoot and coordinate the outfits and talk the older boys into participating.

Missionary update/news

Here is just a little excerpt from Johnny's letter today. He is an AP and has been traveling to different parts of the mission lately. He comes home December 21. For Christmas we are giving Johnny a trip back to Greece with us so he can show us the sites he been to and people he has met while over there. His mission president's wife has a blog about the mission, it is greeceathensmission.blogspot.com.

"Well this week went well. First off we went to Cyprus, and it was amazing there. Very hot, but amazing. There was a different spirit there. The zone conference went great, and then we had the opportunity to do exchanges with the missionaries. In Cyprus they teach a lot of foreigners who come there to study at foreign colleges. Most of them are from Nepal, India, and China. They are really humble, and about seventy percent of the members whom are in Nicosia are foreigners, there is not a single Cypriot member in the branch (similar stories in the other cities of Cyprus).

The first exchange was with the zone leaders there, and we taught a few lessons, one to a nepalese man, who was really humble, they had taught him the word of wisdom from before, and asked if he had started following this, and he said, “We must follow.”, and then we continued to teach him the law of chastity and tithing, and when we asked him if he would follow, it was the same answer, “Of course. We must follow.” It was amazing to teach someone so humble and so ready. Also, a Chinese girl, and she was very accepting, but also in a different way –so very childlike, but not childish if you understand what I mean. these people are so different than anything that I have encountered in my mission, it was amazing to teach, and really easy to talk to them. I loved it.

The next exchange I did with a german elder who is struggling because his companion is not wanting to work so much, and so we did a lot of contacting on our exchange. It was good for me too. We did street contacting during the night and our goal was to get ten names. We ended up with nine names in one night, and gave out a Book of Mormon. I almost beat my record for amount of names. Also, while contacting I talked to a few young Cypriot young people. And the language Cypriot is so different from Greek it is absolutely amazing. Sure I could understand a little, but I had to have him repeat it a few times, because they use different accent, words, and word order. It was fun though, I learned a few phrases while I was there."

Enrichment Meeting: Mother/Daughter Luau-Camp-out

Every August our ward has a mother-daughter camp out. I never get much sleep but this is one event that we never miss. This year I was in charge of the event and we did a Luau theme. My Samoan friend, Sharon, taught some of the girls traditional Hawaiian dances for an authentic Luau show. It was fabulous!! I did tell Natalie after the performance that she was not allowed to move her hips like that at her school dances. :) Caroline loved playing night games with all the other girls around the property. Natalie loved learning the hula and slap dance. I was thrilled that everything went relatively smoothly. I think we had about 150 people attend. I discovered a yummy roasted marshmallow treat.

Camp fire lemon meringue "pie" treat:

1 Sandie brand shortbread cookie

dollop of lemon curd (buy at store--looks like pudding)

1 roasted marshmallow.